A new trade body launches today, aimed at the professional ‘build to rent’ sector.

The United Kingdom Apartment Association is an affiliate – the first outside the US – of the National Apartment Association in America, which has 77,000 members and an annual conference in June which draws 10,000 delegates.

In America, the professional rented sector is known as the ‘multi-family’ industry.

UKAA founder Roger Southam, pictured below, said: “We are not trying to get the US model into the UK, because there are so many differences. We are not trying to take a model from America and simply plonk it down here.

“But what we are trying to do is create a specific build to rent authority, get public recognition that the build to rent product is different, and get everyone in the sector working together.”

The new trade body already has over 20 members, said Southam, with some major global players heading for the UK.

UKAA has also appointed a CEO, Michael Green, who takes up the post next month after steering the British Council of Shopping Centres.

Southam said that planning for the new trade association began in January, and that he has been working with industry bodies including ARLA and RICS. “UKAA is not a threat to them in any way, because we are offering an alternative to the traditional, small-scale private landlords that currently dominate the market.”

Southam said that the objective of UKAA is to drive up standards, and introduce training for members, who will then be able to use initials after their names.

But, we asked, don’t trade bodies often end up as seething masses of back-stabbing and internal politics?

Southam said: “We will be focused on delivery, not navel gazing. However, you could try asking me that question in a year’s time.”

In America, the multi-family industry often builds rental blocks which are specifically for certain types of tenants – examples have included single-parent families and actors.

While there is as yet little sign of that happening in the UK, Southam said that build to rent is all about building communities.

Should private landlords and high street letting agents be worried? After all, the Government is heavily endorsing build to rent and encouraging institutional investment.

The end-products are quite different, too, with build-to-rent schemes offering more hotel-style living.

Southam said: “Letting agents will have to adapt and see this as an opportunity; private landlords may have to differentiate themselves by improving their services.

“Hopefully, standards throughout the letting industry will rise as more choice becomes available.

“I believe people in the UK will always aspire to home ownership, but the fact is that there is not enough stock to fill those aspirations and rent is a fact of life.”

Early members of UKAA include Savills and suppliers such as Roomservice by CORT, and Yardi.

Housing minister Brandon Lewis said of today’s launch: “I welcome the UKAA as a body that can help build the capabilities of the build to rent sector in this country, bringing together the needs of private renters with the institutional capital that wants to invest in meeting their demands.”

www.ukaa.org.uk